Mr Monk and The Temp
by Silvio Mandeville
Summary: When Natalie has to have a minor operation she thinks it's okay for Julie to fill for her in while Mr. Monk looks for a lost dog. Little does she know that they're about to cross paths with a murderer who specializes in sweet young girls like Julie!
1. Chapter 1

Natalie sat quietly waiting at the outpatient recovery area of St. Lukes hospital. She was dreamy from the pain medication but clear headed enough realize something was wrong when she saw the familiar face of Leland Stottlemeyer as he poked his head through the double doors.

He slipped quickly in to the room and up to her bedside. "Natalie, everything is fine. Everyone is fine. How are you?"

"Fine." She said almost mockingly as she tried to gring all her concentration to the man before her. "Did something happen?"

"You had better believe something happened. Your daughter is a hero. The city wants to give her an award on television."

Natalie threw her eyes wideopen. "What happened?" She demanded. "She's okay?"

Leland kept nodding and smiling. "She's fine. A few bruises. Monk too. They're over at General right now."

"If you dont tell me what happened, right now, I swear, Leland, I'll..."

"Okay, okay. But let's start at the beginning. What do you remember from this morning?" He asked.

Natalie paused and considered.

"Well, I was in a hurry all morning. Let me think..."

**Earlier that morning...**

Adrian Monk stood quietly on the street corner and stared down the sloping hill in to the distance. He had been there for almost an hour, but that was mostly his fault, as he was an hour early.

He was ten feet from the walkway for his front door. Exactly ten. To get here took forty-seven steps, but he took a 'slight' step every 15 steps, to balance it to an even fifty.

Soon enough, the familiar sight of Natalie's car came in to view. He could tell from the way the car took the corner what kind of mood she was in, how fast she was going often how 'difficult' she might be that day.

Today she seemed assertive.

Natalie stretched across the seat and opened the door from the inside to save him the trouble of wiping the handle. "Have you been standing out here? Why didnt you wait in the house?"

Monk cast his eyes over his shoulder and for a moment it was as though he had never looked at the building before. "I... didnt want to miss you..."

"Get in Mr. Monk." She waved him closer. "You look like you're freezing. Did you wear you gloves?"

"Yes I wore my gloves." Adrian pulled his hands from his pockets and belted himself in.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" She breathed in a sigh. "You could take a day off."

"You know I am. Sure that is." He said, fidgeting with his hands in his lap and staring down in to them."

"What arent you telling me?" Natalie demanded.

"Volumes." He looked up and met her eyes. She could see only pain and loss reflected in them and her heart swelled towards bursting, just a litle bit. "Natalie, dont go. Dont risk it. Those places are death traps. You have no idea..."

Natalie felt flush with affection. "Mr. Monk... I'm only going in to the hospital for one day. One day, not even overnight!"

"But they're going to cut a hole, a hole Natalie, with all the germs and sick people..." He shivered until he felt her hand close around the sleeve of his overcoat.

"I'll be back at work tomorrow. I promise. It's such a small operation, it's practically nothing, really."

"You..." He swallowed slightly before whispering hoarsely "You promise?"

"I just did."

"Then start driving. It's freezing." he said dropping his head to stare at his buttons and then attempting to 'fidget' them strait.

Natalie smiled kindly as she slipped the car in gear and headed back towards her apartment.

Julie sat, perched with her legs crossed under her, sending instant messages to her friends. It was all the relevant information.

She wasnt coming to school today. Her holiday vacation stared one day early, if you can call being Monk's temporary assistant a vacation. Her mother was going to be fine, in fact, they probably wouldnt even need to knock her out for the operation.

And no, she was absolutely not going near any dead bodies or bad guys. Mr. Monk was looking for a missing dog. It was worth a lot of money, but probably only lost.

The door opened quickly and her mother spilled in with Adrian brushing imaginary lint from his shoulders as he sauntered in behind her.

"Julie, are you ready to go honey?" Natalie asked quickly yet sweetly.

"Sure mom." She tapped in 'C-YA' and logged off.

"Be sure and come right back here after you drop me at the hospital. Mr. Monk has to get to work." Natalie reminded her daughter as she put on her coat.

"Right back. I promise." Julie smiled at Monk who smiled weakly in return. She let her gaze linger for just a moment. Ever since he 'died' she'd regretted not spending more time around him.

"What?" Monk dropped his eyes to his immaculate jacket and then back to Julie.

"I left the paper towels and Windex on the counter." Julie said almost conspiritorally. "And I wont get out of the car so I wont track any germs back here. Okay?"

Adrian stood amazed. "God bless you." He breathed out at last, as Natalie and Julie whisked out the door.

Monks eyes drifted over the room. There was so much to straiten and so much to align that he was equally thrilled and offended. Then his eyes fell on the window. It was covered in fingerprints and forehead marks.

"Oh, yeah." Monk smiled wide at the window and poked a gloved finger at it, adding a hint of a laugh. "You're first."

Back in the car Julie rolled her eyes. "Mom! I know Mr. Monk almost as well as you do. I can handle him for one day. Are you sure you're not worried about the operation and you're just obsessing over Mr. Monk to avoid the issue?"

Natalie turned her head slowly and looked at her daughter. "Who died and made you Doctor Kroger?"

"You cant be around Mr. Monk and not pick a few things up you know." Julie laughed. "Besides Mom... You always act this way when you're nervous."

"What way?" Natalie demanded in a sassy, playful tone, attempting to deny her own nervousness.

"You take care of the people you love." Julie smiled, then turned to watch a cute guy going in to a store. It wasnt until she turned back that she realized her mother's mouth was hanging open.

"Julie... You're right. But honey... I dont know what you think is going on..." Natalie swallowed suddenly and found her mouth dry.

"Mom!" Julie laughed. "I just meant Mr. Monk is more like family than a boss. I bet..." A small smile played over her youthful lips. "Never mind."

"Oh no, you're saying it young lady." Her mother told her.

"I bet if Mr. Monk couldnt pay you, ever again, you'd get a new job and still, you know, be there. When he needed something."

Natalie found herself torn between the moment before her and a moment in Nevada where she was kissing him in joy. "Well that's how it should be between good people." She managed at last, although somehow dissappointed that Julie had her so 'pegged'.

"I know Mom." She said, humbled slightly before adding "Not that I'd mind." And casting her gaze back out the window. "Some... goings on."

"What?" Natalie asked, slightly unsure of what she had heard.

"Hospital. Mom, next left."


	2. Chapter 2

Leland nodded sympathetically. "Well, Natalie, they had a pretty busy day without you. But to understand what happened to them you have to hear about where I was this morning."

Just then something thudded hard against the hospital doors and they both turned to look as Randy Disher peeked hesitantly around the corner, saw the two of them and let loose a wide grin and a wave.

Stottlemeyer sighed slightly as Randy slipped through the room and up to the bed. "Hey Nat. Congratulations on having a hero for a daughter." He seemed to be almost beaming with pride.

"Thank you, I think." She tried to sit up further but grimaced silghtly.

"Havent you told her yet?" Disher asked, beginning to run his mouth. "Because I could tell her. I was there too... you know."

"I think I can tell her." Leland said firmly.

Disher caught Natalie's eye. "He can tell you." He confirmed.

And with a thirst for information, Natalie turned attentively to listen to Leland Stottlemeyer.

"This morning they executed Vincent Immorie, it was in some of the papers. But I was the one who caught him and he wanted to have a last word with me, so Randy and I went to the prison..."

**Earlier, at the prison...**

"Wow." Randy beamed slightly as he looked around the drab, grey, gated room. "I've never heard anyone's last words before. I mean, have you thought about it? It could be anything."

"Or it could be nothing Randy. The things that matter to this guy dont really matter much to people like us. I expect to be insulted, belittled and maybe just a little degraded."

"Then why'd you come?" Randy took the corner in perfect step with his boss and friend.

"Because this is my first visit here for 'last words' too. And on the off chance that I'm wrong and this turns out to be important."

"Are you going to stay for the execution?" Randy asked.

"I'm wasn't planning on it."

There was a background noise, a murmer of sorts, playing through the long, dark halls. The atmosphere inside was thick and heavy, like right before a storm.

Leland led the way through the standard guard enterance and spied the warden, a small, round and balding man, at the end of the hall. With a brisk pace they joined him quickly.

"Warden!" Leland smiled at him. "Warden Dennis Thomas, this is Lt. Randy Disher, my protege."

Leland regretted saying it immediately and then a second later when he saw Randy mouth the words "Protege, wow!" to himself.

"Fine, fine." The warden shook both thier hands. "I must say... You've come at a very difficult time."

"I noticed it's a little..." Leland cast his eyes down the halls.

"Too quiet?" The Warden nodded. "It's Vincent. The execution I mean. I dont often say anything like this but... I do believe he is a changed man. He's had a very positive influence over some very hostile people here. It's actually sad to see him moving on. I would have tried to intervene if only his original crimes hadnt been so heinious."

Randy had noticed how Stottlemeyer had stiffened during the warden's last statements.

"I'd like to believe that kind of change is possible." Leland said diplomatically. "But as a police officer, I've yet to really see it."

The warden smiled almost smugly but somewhat knowingly. "Well," He said, producing a key. "Why dont we test the waters then."

And without further ado the warden unlocked a secure, single door, and led them down a long, bare hallway, before finally ending in a room, divided by thick plexi-glass.

Vincent Immorie stood behind the clear wall. He looked thicker and more fit than Leland remembered. But there was something new about his dark, deep-set eyes. A kindness or a compassion that Leland didnt want to believe.

"Can we talk alone?" Vincent asked.

"We are alone." The Captain told him.

Vincent licked his lips. "You were right. When you arrested me. I killed those two girls. The college kids? But it wasnt what you thought. It was a robbery. I was stupid. And sloppy. Now, I dont want to die, but that isnt what this is about. I KNOW you think I did those other girls. Those little girls, man? Even if you couldnt try me for them. I know you think it. But I didnt."

Vincent swallowed. "I'm ready to... I'll take the rap for what I did. It was horrible, but I own it. And I'll pay. But those other girls... I know who did it."

"Who?" Leland couldnt help but be drawn in.

Disher flipped open his notebook, ready to scribble.

"Lorne Grithen. He runs a junk yard for some old timer's, crushing problem vehicals and occupants. Down off fifteenth and... Columbia I think."

"And you're just giving this to us? No strings?" Leland arched an eyebrow at the man.

Vincent only laughed. "I'm going to God today. No strings reach God."

Vincent's fist thumped as he shoved it against the plexiglas. "Promise me. Promise me you'll look. Check it out."

"Why?" Leland pushed.

"Because. It's my one shot at doing something good for the world - for the people outside these walls. A whole life, and nothing good to come of it? You can help me! This can count!"

Randy felt himself swallow and begin to tear up. Even if Stottlemeyer wasnt going to follow this up, Randy was sure he would.

Stottlemeyer dropped his head and rubbed tha back of his neck. Then, when he raised his eyes to meet the pleading gaze behind the wall, he thunked his fist to meet Vincent's on either side of the plexiglass.

"I promise."


	3. Chapter 3

"Wow." Natalie shook her head. "And still, they executed him?"

"That they did." Leland nodded slowly.

"But that's not the best part." Randy grinned slightly from the chair he had pulled up. "Tell her what happened next."

"Randy, I'm getting to that." He paused for a moment. "You're not talking about meeting Tim Curry on the street, are you?"

Randy bliked twice. "Tim Curry? I thought that was Gary Busey with a beard."

Leland just shook his head sadly and was silently glad no one else had heard them.

"Gary Busey with a beard. Tehehehe..." A little old woman two beds away giggled in a high pitched chirp. Then, for a moment, she fiddled with her hearing aid, obviously unable to hear the conversation she had stopped by interruption.

Natalie couldnt help but crack a smile. Just as Leland couldnt help but roll his eyes at Randy.

"Anyway," Randy began, but the woman jumped and quickly turned her hearing aid down a bit. Randy kept a watch on her as he began to speak. "Anyway, we went to the junkyard..." But he stopped watching once he was convinved he wasnt going to hurt her ear by speaking, then he caught Leland's gaze.

"Sorry. Captain." And Randy hushed himself by placing a finger to his lips.

"And we didnt like what we saw when we got there." Leland concluded. "In fact..."

**Earlier, At the Junk Yard...**

Lorne Grithen was, by all definition, a stern man. His grey hairline had long ago receeded over his head but he compensated by framing his face in thin square-ish beard that traced his jawline in white.

And his eyes narrowed and hardened on Stottlemeyer and Disher the moment he saw them.

What's this about?" Lorne demanded.

Stottlemeyer looked at Disher as if to say 'Did you see that? He knew we were cops.'

Disher responded by licking the corners of his mouth for unseen remnants of his lunch.

"I am Captian Stottlemeyer and this is Lt. Disher..."

"I'm his protoge." Disher piped in as Stott rolled his eyes.

Lorne looked disgusted yet politely replied. "How nice for you." Then he turned to try and make his way toward the gate of the junk yard.

"And we're with the San Francisco police department." Stottlemeyer seemed to lasso him and draw him back with those words.

"So how can I help you?" Lorne asked. "You need a tow? Junk car hauled off, what?"

"You ever hear the name Vincent Immorie?" Disher asked. "Felon, being executed..." he checked his watch. "In about an hour."

"No, I dont think so. What'd he do?" Lorne eyed Disher suspiciously.

"It's more about what he didn't do, Mr. Grithen. We had him dead to rights for killing two young girls and we were pretty sure he was responsible for the disappearance of four to six more girls from the area." Stottlemeyer met Lornes eyes. "But now we think he really only did the first two."

"What, will that get him a stay of execution or somthing? Some sort of legal loophole to ..."

"It's no loophole. And nothing's going to stop that execution. But he called me to the prison this morning and you know what he told me?" Stottlemeyer's eyes pierced him like a lethal predator's fang. "He said that you did it. That you killed those other girls. And you know what?"

"What?" Disher asked, as though he really didnt know.

"I bet there are bodies, here, on this lot, waiting to be found."

Lorne swallowed hard and cast a glance to his left, seemingly staring at nothing. "You're nuts." Beads of sweat began to form and send shivers through him as they rolled down his back and the sides of his face. He said at last. "Get a warrant."

"You know what's great about innocent people Randy?" Stott smiled wide. "They dont sweat like they're in a sauna on one of the coldest mornings in recent history."

And now Lorne could feel Randy's eyes taking on that same predatory aspect as Randy commented "No. No, they dont." And with a flip of his wrist he closed his notebook and when thier eyes met... Lorne was forced to look away.

Randy followed Lelands lead and they started walking back towards the car. About half way Leland turned and began walking backwards.

Lorne still stood, fixed in place, his head bowed, as though afraid to move.

"What did you call it?" Leland taunted him. "A warrant? I'll have to get right on that."

And with that the Captian whipped around and headed for his car.

Disher whispered. "Will the phone taps be running by now?"

"In the van to your left." Stottlemeyer told him. "FBI is offering to share it's satelite data of the city. High resolution shots of the junk yard from above. That should have stated by now but it's on an eight minute delay. Never the less, we'll know exactly where he goes inside there and exactly who he calls for help."

"It's brilliant." Randy nodded, impressed.

"Only if it works." Leland reminded him. "Only if it works."

Just then Kelsey Grammer, wearing a full beard, jumped out in to the street and ran across thier paths.

"Hey!" Disher looked at him. "Isn't that..."

"Yeah!" Stottlemeyer nodded. "I think it is!"


	4. Chapter 4

Monk swallowed hard as he peeked around the door. He wore a surgical mask and was breathing in a very slow and controled maner despite his nervousness. A single swath of cotton webbing was wrapped around his head, holding a larger bandage in place at the back of his skull.

A doctor pushed through the double doors, on his way out of the room with a handful of interns in tow. Monk found himself suddenly swimming up stream through a sea of 'germy' people. He pulled his gloved hand from his pocket and placed the neatly folded hankerchief over his alerady masked mouth.

Natalie was smiling when she saw him. Part despite herself and part because, while she already knew everyone was okay, it was nice to see Monk alive and well.

But her heart almost broke on the next heartbeat.

"I'm sorry. Natalie. I'm so sorry. Please dont quit. Please?" He took a deep breath through the mask and looked slightly lightheaded, but equally distraught.

"I'm not going to quit!" She told him before looking to Leland and asking "Am I?"

Leland shook his head 'no'.

"Mr. Monk. Why would I quit?"

"I..." Adrian dropped his head. "I did it. You trusted me and I... I got your ... I got Julie... bruised." He sniffled slightly and looked to be on the verge of tears.

Natalie reached over and grabbed him by the sleeve, pulling him up to the edge of the bed. He went, but equally leaned away, as though trying to avoid her.

Adrian felt Natalie's arms wrap around him and her head pressed against his chest as she held him tight.

For a moment he just stood there, his hand in the air, as though being held at gunpoint instead of being hugged.

But then...

She felt his arms drape softly and respectfully across her shoulders even though it was all but undetectable, she definately felt him squeeze her reassuringly.

"Kids get bruised." She said at last in a sniffle, pulling away to wipe her nose. "It's why they heal so fast Mr. Monk." She was still fighting off the heavy emotions as she added "You silly!"

Monk hesitated and looked down casually a couple of times before being sure his shirt was still clean and then he finally relaxed.

"Where's Julie?" Disher asked.

"Parking the car. And calling her friends. And texting them." Monk sighed. "All at once."

"Ah." Disher nodded.

"While finishing a personal pizza." Monk added. "I think she's just... loving life."

"You should try it some time." Stottlemeyer told him.

"Looks exhausting." Monk shrugged one shoulder as he spoke.

"It kinda is." Disher said, suddenly realizing something about life he didn't want to know.

"Anyway!" Natalie demanded. "What happened next?"

"Next?" Monk looked at Randy and Leland.

"Actually, that would be your part of the story Monk. What happened after Julie came to pick you up at Natalie's this morning?" Leland prodded.

And Monk lowered himself, distainfully to the edge of the hospital chair. "Well..." He began, "It happened exactly like this..."

**Back at Natalie's come mid-morning...**

Julie stood outside the door to her own home, knocking. "Mr. Monk?" She said, sounding like a mimic of her mother.

"Just a second Julie. I was... Cleaning the door locks, and I pushed something on this old deadbolt ..."

She could hear Monk flipping the handle of the lock back and forth but it refused to make the final 'click'.

"See the little nub of a switch by the handle?" She asked him.

He paused, she heard him wiping again and then he said "Yes."

"Push it down, hard. Real hard." She shook her head slowly, imagining that Mr. Monk would die in her house and she would have to move and buy all new DVDs.

And then it happened. A small stifled click from the other side of the door. Quickly she forced her key in to the lock and opened it herself.

"Oh, thank God." Monk smiled. He had found a pair of yellow rubber gloves and some sponges Julie had never seen before, and made good use of both. The whole apartment seemed to shine and sparkle.

"Wow. You should wait here all the time." Julie looked around and her eye caught sight of her homework, laid out on the table. "Did you do my math homework?"

Monk leaned over to look. "Just... " He paused. "The last six problems."

Julie smiled and didnt mention that there were only six problems, but she still made a mental note to do them herself, or at least make sure she understood it, later.

"Don't we have an address to check out for your lost dog?" Julie asked.

"But I'm not done here." He looked around suddenly as though he were about to be deprived something wonderful.

"But you can always come back here. The dog might be moving on." She reminded him gently.

He still looked torn.

"How much money was this dog worth again?" She prodded, knowing full well that Mr. Monk had a 'money button' that could be pushed.

"I'll get my coat." He agreed, pointing a bright yellow finger towards the kitchen.

The drive to the address Mr. Monk had was uneventful and Julie even found herself slightly swayed by Monk's argument that everyone should wear those yellow gloves all the time.

The address was an old and decrepit building. It had once been beautiful but now sat practically abandoned except for the couple occupants who had no other choice but to continue to pay Biderbeck industries for the privledge of renting there.

Monk was no sooner out of the car and looking at the house when Julie piped up.

"Mr. Monk! It's him!" She pointed to the fenced in years across the street. "It's your dog, isn't it?"

"Maybe." Monk blinked and looked for a moment. "He looks... dirtier than the dog in the picture."

Julie almost laughed but caught herself. "Jonas! Hey puppy! Jonas, is that you?"

The dog yipped and danced in a circle.

"I think that's him Mr. Monk." Julie said.

"I think you're right. I dont want to lose sight of him. Maybe you should wait here and I'll go ..."

"There's a hole in the fence." Julie pointed. "I bet we could slip through there. It's only 20 feet from the dog."

"We might lose him if we go around." Monk admitted.

"Here. Hold my phone." Julie handed her cell to Monk who wrapped it in a hankerchief and slipped it in to his pocket.

"Come on!" Julie smiled and shot off, across the street and grabbed the fence, pulling it as wide as she could for Monk to duck through.

And once he was through the fence she waited for a long moment before she realized Monk wasnt going to hold the fence for her, and then she scooted through herself.

"Ugh. Why did it have to be a junkyard?" Monk looked around distainfully.

"I think I heard a bark Mr. Monk. I'm going to look over here." She gestured.

"Okay." Monk said, dusting imaginary dirt from his sleeves.

Julie wasnt gone more than a moment when she heard angry shouting.

She crept back towards where she had left Monk but stopped quickly.

"You think I dont know who Adrian Monk is? Hunh?" A strangely bearded man said. "And you're not looking for a dog today, not today, not with all those cops poking around!"

"I know who you are!" Monk said suddenly. "That keyring! It says HMK. You killed that girl! You're a monster!"

And it seemed for a moment that they moved at each other but out of nowhere came a small wooden bat.

Lorne smashed Monk in the arm and then across the top of the head as Monk turned away.

Monk tried to spin and run at him, but felt himself slipping away. With all his reserves he cast his eyes to where Julie had gone.

Lorne followed his gaze and caught sight of the girl.

"Julie!" Monk screamed "RUN!"

And with another swing of the bat, Monk was wrapped in an inky, claustrophobic darkness.


	5. Chapter 5

"Julie!" Natalie said, breaking Monk's train of thought and causing half the recovery room to jump. "Get your butt over here young lady!"

Julie blushed visibly. Her clothes were a little worse for wear but she had obviously stopped to scrub her face and hands clean. "Mom..." She laughed and responded to her mother's open arms by diving in to them and hugging back.

"I think you're sitting next to me for a while kiddo." Natalie told her, scooting over and pulling Julie to the edge of the bed.

"Mom, your job is _hard_." Julie said lowering herself down while Leland and Randy chuckled.

"I tried to behave." Monk volunteered with a twitch of his neck.

Other patients in the room, who seem to have been listening, chuckled. But out of respect, Monks friends did not.

"It wasn't Mr. Monks fault Mom." Julie said. "It was my idea to go through the fence."

"I know honey. It was an accident... Kinda." She paused. "I think."

Julie looked up. "You think?"

Natalie nodded. "Yeah. I still don't know what happened after Mr. Monk told you to run."

"Oh." Julie grew three shades of quiet. "You're not going to like it Mom." She said at last biting her lip.

Stottlemeyer smiled. "She'll like the ending." He told her.

"Yeah. The ending was... It was my favorite part." Monk agreed, looking to Disher. "Because it was over... then."

Disher nodded and smiled a tiny grin. "Yeah. That was a pretty good part." He agreed.

"Julie, if you don't tell me what happened next, I'm grounding you!"

"The grounded hero." Stottlemeyer laughed.

"Sounds like fiction." Disher added.

"Well..." Julie swallowed. "When he hit Mr. Monk, I knew I couldn't get past him to go back through the hole in the fence. I thought I could get out another way..."

**Back in the junkyard...**

Julie RAN!!

Mr. Monk raised his voice when he got worked up. She knew that. Most times, it was funny, over something trivial. Never that she could remember had Mr. Monk ever yelled at her for real. And somewhere inside she silently wished he was yelling in anger instead.

She knew as she turned that getting away from the man who attacked Monk meant running deeper in to the property.

The towering stacks of cars and mountains of various types of metal cast the place in shade and shadows despite it being broad daylight.

Would he chase her and let give Monk a chance to escape? Where was her cell phone? Was he hurting Monk? How could she get help? Which way could she go?

She cast a glance over her shoulder and saw nothing. She cringed as she turned but still ran right in to the door of an old Buick that was propped up on the car it came off of.

The noise of the fall seemed deafening and she cringed, whimpering, away from where she'd come.

Her breath was now warm enough to see in the air.

Every sense was alive and alert.

She felt a growl in her stomach, like something was wrong.

"Mom?" She thought to herself. And then it connected to something in her mind. "What would Mom do?" She asked herself silently.

And in just a moment the answer would come.

Lorne slammed the trunk lid down with a vengeance once Monk was inside. He knew every path and shortcut around the property and so he made short work of the trip to the front gate which he closed and locked.

Across the street he could see Disher sunning himself leisurely and Stottlemeyer drinking a fresh cup of coffee. Lorne scowled and turned away from the gate. In just a few steps he was in his guard shack, and from under the table he produced a large wooden box that housed a sinister curved blade.

He activated the survailance cameras and found her instantly.

"Welcome to the web little fly." He whispered, putting a fresh toothpick in to his mouth to chew on. "I think I'm going to enjoy you." He smiled coyly. "More than all the others put together."

And in an instant Lorne swept out, his keys in hand and started the crane. He knew she would hear it but she wouldn't have time to do anything about it. He threw the levers and laughed lowly to himself.

Julie heard the machine roar to life. The air was filled with the wrenching of metal and then a great 'slam'.

For a moment it was as though nothing had happened. But then she saw it.

A pile of cars, ten or more high had been struck by the crane and was now teetering towards falling down on her head.

She opened her mouth and the scream just came out of her own accord. Her eyes flew wide and for the second time today, Julie Teeger ran for her life.

"What was that?" Disher jumped and looked as the 'boom' echoed through the neighborhood.

"That's the sound of panic." Stottlemeyer laughed. "But he cant hide anything we cant find. The satellite images will be getting interesting soon."

"Yeah." Disher laughed and leaned back to await word from the phone taps and photo image people.

Meanwhile, something was definitely wrong. Adrian flexed his fingers and knew immediately what was amiss.

"I lost my glove." He blinked several times. "I don't sleep in gloves..." Monk tried to look around but wasn't in his room. He hit his head as he tried to sit up and the ache reverberated through him.

"Oh my God, Julie!" He pushed with all his strength on the lid but it failed to move. He punched it with his hand and hurt his knuckles before he began fishing around the trunk for something to fight the lid with when it happened.

Julie's phone rang.

Monk's eyes went wide. He was equally thrilled to have a cell phone and devastated that Julie didn't.

He ripped off his glove and pulled the phone out of his pocket. It was a tiny pink phone with a flower on it but enough of it lit up that Monk was instantly calmed as it fought back the darkness.

He whipped open the phone. "She'll have to call you back!!" He told it as he hung up on whoever it was.

A distant phone rang, once, twice, and then...

"Doctor Kroger." Came the voice at the other end.

"Thank God! Dr. Kroger! Julie's in the junkyard off Columbia. I'm locked in the trunk of a car! The junk man! He had a key chain. It was from a missing girl, years ago. He's a killer!"

"Adrain, what can I do?"

"CALL THE POLICE!" Monk told him.

"Adrian, Adrian, I will. But Adrian, you have a phone, why don't you just..."

Monk turned the phone away from himself and used the back of his hand to beat himself twice in the head.

"I'll call you back!" He barked in frustration and then... the line went dead.


	6. Chapter 6

"Oh my God it is Adrian Monk!" The large woman shook her head. "No Sir, not in my recovery room. No!"

"Excuse me?" Said Leland flashing his badge.

"Varla." Monk whispered.

"I know what happens around this man." Varla told Leland. "I was his nurse for one day, one day! And do you know what happened?"

"Someone was murdered?" Natalie ventured with a smile.

Her comment brought chuckles from around the room.

"Yeah!" Varla said loudly. "You seen it too, hunh?"

"It happens... A lot." Monk admitted.

"I'm his assistant now." Natalie told her.

"Oh my." Varla looked crushed. "Is Sharona... you know?" She gestured with her head toward Monk.

"Ah, no." Randy popped in to the conversation. "She moved back to Jersey with her ex-husband."

Varla looked at a loss. "That's kinda just as bad, aint it?"

'Uh, yeah." Randy agreed with a tight lipped smile.

"I was Mr. Monks assistant today." Julie said with a smile.

"And now you're in the hospital?" She cut a harsh look at Monk.

"I tried to behave." He shrugged absently again and looked at Leland. "I did."

"I know." Leland said softly as he nodded.

"So what happened next?" The little old woman with the hearing aid asked.

"Yeah!" Several patients said in unison.

"I think I have got to hear this." Varla nodded, hopping up on to the edge of the an empty bed.

"Well, I was in the junkyard, and Mr. Monk was locked in the trunk of the car..."

"Oh, this is good already." Varla commented.

Several patients shushed her.

"Dont you shush me! This is my ward. I can release any of you, so watch it!" Varla looked around and then back at Julie. "I'm sorry baby, you tell it like it was."

"And the crane had knocked over the cars, blocking me in to one section of the maze of cars... And the junk man was after me with that knife..."

Varla tisked several times. "Ooo...I knew workin' for Monk was trouble."

**Earlier that day, just outside the junkyard...**

The image hit Randy like a ton of bricks. All the emotion in his body seemed to spirl down through is legs and in to the earth. His mouth went dry and his fingers twitched.

Leland was on the phone, looking frustrated. He seemed to be an incredible distance for someone just across the street.

"Randy!" Leland yelled. "It's Monk!"

Randy felt like he was running across the street underwater. The words came out in slow motion. "And Julie!" He held up the blown up overhead image which clearly showed her pink Dance Team jacket fleeing the murderous Lorne.

"Right now!" Leland said in to the phone. "All available units! Randy!" Stottlemeyer tossed his keys to Randy. "Get the shotguns and the rubber pellet shot!"

Randy turned and ran for the car. He didnt turn again until he heard the shot.

Monk jumped in the trunk. "What was that?" He demanded of the dispatcher on the phone. "It sounded like gunfire."

"I'll put that out with the call Mr. Monk. Don't worry we're coming for the both of you." She replied.

Lorne turned and looked back over his shoulder. "Well, that was close enough to draw those cops off for a while..." He grinned and stayed quiet behind the rough shrubs that littered the junkyard.

Julie was slowly creeping towards him, and he didn't want to give himself away.

Leland swore and reholstered his gun. Bulletproof locks seemed to be all the rage with the criminal sect anymore.

"Randy!" Leland barked with a gleam in his eye. "Forget the shotguns. RAM THIS GATE!"

Across town, Vincent Immorie's eyes hurt as the poison reached him in a shudder. No one had told him that lethal injections hurt but then again, who would have known?

Julie screamed as the hand fell on her shoulder.

Stottlemeyer heard it as his car sped past and battered the gate off it's huge hinges as several police cruisers screeched to a halt.

Monk screamed in frustration, he kicked his feet and smashed his palms again and again in to the lid of the trunk.

Julie turned in terror to see Lorne laughing at her. He was right there, a mere fifty feet away as she ran, holding a huge chunk of her ponytail in his hand. "You cant get out girl. This is my world. And in my world I GET MY WAY!"

Monk's elbow smashed something in the dark. Pain shot through him and he gasped in pain. He pulled quickly away, and somehow, by some miracle, his coat had caught the inside of the trunk latch and had bent the rotted metal.

At the first sight of daylight Monk kicked out with all his anger and concern, blowing the lid open. He scrambled and fell out of the trunk as hands grabed him and hefted. He was slapping at them scared, before he heard Leland's voice.

"Come on!" Leland called to the cops behind him.

Monk and Leland met eyes.

An uneasy silence passed between them for a second.

"You didn't get this from me." Leland said softly as he reached behind him and pressed a small .32 caliber gun in to Monk's hand before calling back over his shoulder. "NOW MOVE!"

Vincents vision was fading fast. He had long since lost the ability to move. A pair of fingers closed his eyes and all he could see was inky blackness and the slight sparkle of life on the retreat.

Lorne knew every in and out to his yard. In a heartbeat he had cut through to a spot where Julie was yet to pass. Having headed her off he waited yet again, her hair wrapped around his fist, pressed beneath his nose. He inhaled her deeply and caressed his face with the silken feel of her.

They moved as a pack, the uniformed officers, Monk, Disher and the Captian. Leaping and turning, working all thier limbs in that forced panic of the moment, striving for some hint, or sign of Julie.

And at the prison, the Chaplin leaned over and looked at Vincent's face. "Look at this." He said. "He's smiling."

"Muscles still move for a while." Said a doctor.

"I don't know." Said the Chaplin. "I've been to a lot of these things..."

The doctor smiled at the odd little Chaplin. "Maybe he knows something we don't." And with that he drew the sheet up over the dead man's head.


	7. Chapter 7

"Oh my God, honey!" Natalie hugged Julie's head to her chest. "You're not leaving my sight again, ever."

Everyone chuckled a bit with the exception of Monk who was imagining having to bring Julie and Natalie everywhere he went from now on, and how to point out that she might be in MORE danger this way. And how to remind Natalie that she said she wouldn't quit. He did have witnesses after all.

"I tell you, I never saw anything like in in all my life, and all my years on the force." Leland smiled wide.

"Well..." Randy paused. "No, actually, this was pretty satisfying." He decided with a jovial little bounce.

"Well dont ruin the story." The hearing aid woman said.

"Yeah!" A couple of folks, even one who had been pretending to be asleep, said.

"I have got to hear this in the girls own words, okay?" Varla said. "If this is on the news I wanna say I met that girl!"

Leland turned and smiled. "Varla, is it? You'll be talking about this for years." He smiled widely at Randy, both almost glowing in the knowledge of what happened next. "But you're right. No one is ever going to tell it better than the woman herself."

"Woman?" Natalie mouthed at Monk behind Julie's back.

Adrian shrugged helplessly.

Natalie pursed her lips slightly. "What happened next, baby?"

"Well..." Julie began. "I was running down one of the hallways of cars. And I saw this place where the cars were only stacked three cars high. And behind it I could see a fence and a field and a street with stores, so I wanted to climb over..."

Julie swallowed and looked up to meet the eyes of the people in the room. For a moment everyone seemed to shimmer and she realized she might just cry. "But somehow... he was right there Mom. He was ready and waiting for me..."

**Back at the junkyard...**

Julie's world fell in to slow motion as she ran. All the warmth from within her seemed to drop away when she saw him leaping out of the back seat of a derelict Mazda.

She felt like she was running through butter but he seemed to be moving even slower as she broke in to a full run for the lowest stack of cars.

Images flooded her mind. Her mother. Dance camp. Basketball. Her fish...

The fish hung in her mind for a moment, as though staring at her. And when it finally flapped it's fins, it made the sound of a knife being sharpened.

Julie knew, instinctively, that it meant something.

She ran strait up the first car and threw her arms in to the broken window of the second.Her hand wrapped around the seat belt and she lunged to get away...

But Lorne had managed to grab her ankle and was pulling her down, his other hand trying to get a grip, inappropriately high on her thighs.

And then... There it was. The fish and the noise.

Then Dance camp. When she hit Angela during the spin on their routine...

Lorne was talking. Saying horrible things about what he would do with and to her.

And a strange sense of calm and fascination fell over Julie as she hung for her life from the seat belt.

She peered in to the window she hung from and saw something wonderful.

Julie Teeger might not have know what the handle to a hydraulic jack was but when it came to looking at a pipe with a handle, she felt herself renewed.

She seemed to snap out of the trance and she lunged for the handle twice before she caught it.

And the moment her hand held the jack handle firm, she knew without a doubt and exactly what her mother would have done.

Stottlemeyer and Monk dove through the junkyard. Everyone had to fan out, the place was a maze. Randy was scaling a pile of cars to help get thier bearings.

With all the strength and grace in her body Julie swung her new weapon down behind her, eyeing Lorne's smug and twinkling eyes.

The bar impacted with such force that it spun Lorne backwards and off of her while he grabbed his eye and screamed at the top of his lungs in pain. Unfortunately it also swung Julie off the seat belt and back to the ground with Lorne.

Monk ran without giving any thought to the others with him. Everyone was moving as a pack again, the destination now revealed by the screaming.

Stottlemeyer and Disher broke on to the scene just behind Monk a mere second after the first strike, just after Julie hit the ground.

Just in time to see what happened next.

Julie had dropped to face Lorne, the bar now held low and back behind her. She swung it as hard as she could and drew it across his knees, dropping him to the ground.

The jack handle seemed to rise up under his chin on it's own volition as he fell and he let out a screaming gargle that went well with the crunch of his jaw bone.

He went to his knees before her, one eye still on her and a scowl on his face.

And when he fell she realized she had hit him again, using both hands, right across the back of his neck.

Julie's eyes rose slowly and there stood her fairy tale ending. Leland, Randy and Adrian stood there, guns in hand.

"Mr. Monk!" Julie squeaked, dropping the bar and jumping over Lorne's body. "You're okay!"

Monk stood his ground for a moment and the couldn't help himself and he stepped in to meet her as she threw her arms around him under his overcoat.

There were no germs in that moment. No dirt and no disease.

Monk's arms fell around her, pulling her away from Lorne and turning, so as to put himself between Julie and Lorne. He was almost giddy. "I'm alright?" He laughed. "I'm great. I am... On top of the world." He laughed a bit, looking at Disher and Stott. "How are you?"

Julie slowly warmed and stiffened slightly. "I'm... I'm a Teeger."

"No arguments here." Leland smiled. "Hey you guys!" He called out to the back-up. "You two search him then watch him and you two go lead the paramedics in."

Disher leaned in and whispered something to Stott.

Leland nodded. "Okay, you two call some paramedics and then lead them in."

Lorne let out a series of whimpering groans when Randy leaned over to him.

"So tell me..." Randy asked. "What's it like to have your butt handed to you by a little girl?"

Everyone in attendance laughed, but that number didn't include Monk or Julie anymore.


	8. Chapter 8

Everyone in the hospital room seemed to go numb.

"I think I'm going to be sick." Natalie said.

Julie swallowed and looked Leland in the eyes. "Forty-three?"

Randy held his head sadly and Leland sighed. "Forty-three confirmed counts of human remains. So far."

"A lot of them were, you know, compacted. But he had all the equipment right there to cut in to the vehicles and find ... the remains. The girls however..."

"Randy..." Stott began but Natalie interrupted him.

"What about the girls Randy?" Natalie asked.

"They were in... shrines. Buses and vans where he would... visit them. Or... more." Randy shrugged.

"How many girls, Randy?" Monk asked.

"Nine." Stottlemeyer replied.

Monk's neck twitched.

Both Julie and Natalie caught it and turned, never looking more like mother and daughter than in that moment, to stare at Adrian Monk.

"I've never been... I'm so relieved..." He laughed, his cheeks flushing. "I never thought I'd say this. But thank god it wasn't even!"

And a stutter of laughter rolled around the room.

Stottlemeyer laughed. "Well, you should all be relieved that Miss Teeger has put this guy out of commission for a long, long time. Staring with a shattered eye socket, broken knee and something about fractured vertebrae."

And the ward began to talk, to cheer, Natalie held Julie close and for the first time, perhaps all day, all was right with Julie Teeger's world.

**Later that week...**

Julie smiled. She was quite calm with the media frenzy as she had endured so much worse of late. Not to mention - she had a secret weapon.

Her mother stood next to Monk, bouncing up and down, and waving, and calling out things Julie couldn't hear.

"Miss Juie Teeger!" The Mayor stepped aside and Julie stepped up to the podium.

She unfolded a piece of paper, just her notes, so she wouldn't forget anything.

"They tell me that I had the privlige of catching the worst serial killer in my lifetime." Julie said and the whole crowd went mad with applause.

"And for that I am receiving all this recognition. But I may not have been so lucky if the San Francisco police department weren't already on the scene." And again the crowd went mad and the police in the crowd and on stage waved appreciatively.

"But the reason they were there was a secret up until this announcement." Everyone fell in to a hush as she spoke. "We all know that Vincent Immorie was executed on the same day that I escaped with my life. But what you dont know is that on the morning of his execution Vincent Immorie called a secret meeting with Captain Leland Stottlemeyer and told him everything about Lorne Grifthe."

Murmurs and whispers flowed through the crowd.

"Mr. Immorie never asked for help or leniency. He just wanted the same thing I wanted that day. He wanted the body-count to end."

And the crowd went mad again, finally finding something they all agreed upon.

"So, when I was told that the city wanted to dedicate a park bench to me, I asked if it could be made to hold my name, and Vincent Immorie's as well. Mine, for the good I've done, and his for the amazing job he did on becoming a better person before he passed." Julie cast her eyes in to the grey overhead. "Thank you Vincent! And God Bless."

Once more the crowd went wild with cheers, hollars and flash bulbs. A the mayor layed a civic service medalion hanging from a red white and blue ribbon around her neck. People shook her hand, called her new haircut cute and were generally amazed.

One woman caught Julie's eye.

She wasn't moving but almost smiling. An elderly woman in a long brown coat.

Julie couldnt help but step over to her. "Have we met?"

The woman shook her head side to side and pulled a newspaper clipping out of her pocket. It was the obituary for Julia Grebe, one of the junkyard killers victim's.

"Survived by her grandmother." Julie read. "Annette Grebe."

The woman sniffed and a ruined Kleenex drew up to her nose. "Thank you for getting that monster!"

Julie felt her eyes glisten and she hugged the woman close. "You're both welcome."

The woman pulled away, overcome and pulled back in to the crowd, just as Natalie appeared at Julie's shoulder. "Are you ready Honey? Mr. Monk's waiting for us."

"He didn't have to come. I know he hates crowds." She said.

"Come? He wanted to drive. He is so proud of you. I've never seen him like this." Natalie smiled, clutching Julie's arm.

"I didn't tell you something Mom." Julie admitted.

"What?" Natalie's eyes went wide with alarm.

"When they came for me, to save me, Mr. Monk had a gun."

"But he doesn't carry his gun." Natalie said.

"It wasn't his gun Mom. His is longer, thinner... This was a small gun." She swallowed slightly. "And from the way he jumped in between me and that creep... It was strange Mom. He normally seems so... helpless. But that day, when I saw him, with that gun, and his eyes, so ... serious."

"What are you saying?" Natalie shook her head slightly.

"I'm saying..." She looked away. "That I'm really lucky to have you and Mr. Monk in my life. Because it's not everyone who would... "

And somehow, Natalie got it. "You think he would have killed that man to save you?"

"No." Julie shook her head. "I know it. If I didn't stop that guy, Mr. Monk would have."

And with that Julie bounced off, cradeling her medal and waving to Monk in the distance.

A million thoughts went through Natalie's head. Her mind flooded with implications and innuendo. Images and possibilities swirled wildly until she had one plausible thought...

"We love you too Mr. Monk. We love you too."

**The End**


	9. Epilogue

Epilogue:

**Many Years From Now...**

"Wow Grandma, that was a great story!" The little boy smiled.

"What about the dog?" His sister demanded. "You never said what happened to the dog!"

Their grandmother smiled widely. "Jonas was fine. He was trapped in another part of the junkyard. We think the junk man was hunting him with a pellet gun."

"But you saved him, didnt you Grandma?" The little girl demanded.

"I did. We got him before we left the junk yard and Randy took him home until we got out of the hospital. I gave him a bath and we took him home that evening. Mrs. Heuron was so happy she gave us a bonus too."

"Is that the bench we sat on at the park Grandma?" The boy asked.

"The very same." She smiled. "Now, Adrian, Ambrosia, why don't the two of you run along and see if Grandpa Benji is up from his nap yet."

"Okay Grandma Julie!" They smiled and ran off playfully.

"Adrian and Ambrosia..." Julie smiled. "There's nothing passing on the classic family names."

-Finished-

Author's Note: Thank you everyone for the wonderful reviews. They really keep me motivated while writing. I'm glad you enjoyed - so until next time - Have great lives!


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